


Hiraeth Ni (Our Longing)

by VVENVEN



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/F, M/M, Multi, Niflheim Prince Prompto Argentum, Prince Prompto Argentum
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-08
Updated: 2020-08-22
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:48:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25787614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VVENVEN/pseuds/VVENVEN
Summary: The headlines about Insomnia's falls seems the same, but there are some differences...
Relationships: Lunafreya Nox Fleuret/Noctis Lucis Caelum, Prompto Argentum/Noctis Lucis Caelum
Comments: 4
Kudos: 14





	1. Prologue

In the land of Eos, there were three prominent domains, Kingdom of Lucis, Kingdom of Tenebrae and the Niflheim Empire. Over the years, Niflheim had conquered Tenebrae, while also taking over lands that belonged to Lucis.

Naturally, it wouldn't be long before Niflheim plan to take over Lucis as well.

-

"Prince, we have to move now."

"But Luna, she's-"

"No time to explain, orders from the emperor."

Tik. Tok. Tik. Tok.

"Right. Let's go."

-

"Clarus!!"

"Please princess, get out of here... We can't lose any more of you..."

"But, but where am I supposed to go..."

"Hammerhead... Your father's friend... Is there..."

In. Out. In. Out.

"What about Noctis? Is he going to be there?"

"Cor... He'll tell the prince to go there... Please you have to leave now."

Silence. Gunshots.

"I'm sorry Clarus... Please... Be safe..."

"You too princess."

-

[Insomnia Falls]

As treaty room tempers flared, blasts lit the night sky. When the smoke about the Citadel had cleared, the king was found dead.

As to ceasefire discussions between the two nations, all provisional terms have been suspended in light of recent developments. Moreover, in the wake of King Regis' death, we've now received word that Crown Prince Noctis and the Oracle Lunafreya have also been pronounced dead.

The search for Princess Aura has also been announced an hour ago, as the princess had gone missing from the Citadel.

According to witnesses, people have also seen the Prince of Niflheim boarding a ship with his escort, which could possibly be the official guardian of the prince.

By the looks of it, she might be the previous high commander, who is also the youngest high commander in Niflheim history.

More news will be updated in the next report.


	2. 1. Beginnings ; 始源

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The prince and his retainers managed to reach Hammerhead unharmed, in which he was met with someone he held dearest to his heart.

He was running along the endless corridor, hands reaching out for the light in front of him. His legs trying to run faster than the rate of darkness catching up to him. But alas, it caught up to him. It always did.

An unseen force dragged him into the void, his hand trying to grab onto everything. But he was never going to be able to get out. He never did.

-

"...tis? Noctis Lucis Caelum...!" A voice woke him up from his deep slumber as his eyes were forced open. A blinding light went straight to him and he had to block it from hurting his eyes. Adjusting to the light, he can finally see what's going on in the room he's in. A blonde girl stood in front of him, looking upset and worried as he yawned. "Jeez, Noct and here I was worried about you! You were tossing and turning around in your sleep, you alright?"

The man, namely Noctis Lucis Caelum, prince of Lucis shook his head and looked out the window. Droplets of leftover rain stuck onto the pane, as the land was filled with sandy mist. It was a rare sight to see rain in Leide, but it wasn't that uncommon either. "Where am I? Why are you here?" Questioned the prince as his eyes darted back to the girl.

She visibly sighed, then gave out a sad smile. "We're at the Hammerhead caravan right now, I managed to get out of here because of Clarus..." Her voice was soft, which was very unlikely of her but considering what happened back at Insomnia, it was no shock that she was trying to show concern to him.

Anger and fear flashed through his eyes when he was reminded of what happened, and why he was in Hammerhead out of all places in Eos. "Thanks, Aura. Thank Six you're safe. You're the last person I want to hear dead."

Aura Lucis Caelum, likewise the name, was the Princess of Lucis. Albeit having different hair color as the prince, the people were elevated with the news of having the baby. Heck, it's been years since they've had a princess. "Thanks, aren't you supposed to go to find Cor later?" Aura wondered, as she walked towards the door. "I was thinking that I could go with you guys, I can't just stay here, y'know?"

"But Aura, it's dangerous-"

"Isn't it more dangerous for a royalty to stay in one place? They might come check, since Cid's dad friend and all.."

Silence fell between the two of them, a sense of tension rose up within him. Noctis then felt a hand on his shoulder, and he glanced towards his sister, who was smiling sadly at him. "Trust me, okay? I trained almost as much as you, maybe even more than you. I'm 50 percent absolutely certain that I am able to survive on the battlefield." Aura said with confidence, which made the prince smile. He ruffled her hair and stood up to open the door.

Ignis and Gladiolus was already outside of the caravan, talking to each other. Most likely planning what they were going to do after paying the visit to the tomb. Sensing the extra presence within them, the two turned to see the siblings walking towards them.

"Good morning, Noct. I assume Aura is joining us then?" The advisor asked as Noctis nodded, and Emilia waved while approaching them. Gladiolus stood there and stared at the princess for a moment. Ignis seemed to noticed that and questioned his actions, mentioning that it was most likely creeping her out.

"No, I was just thinking how are you going to fight in... That."

"Oh."

Completely forgetting the outfit that the princess was wearing, all of them looked at each other. They didn't really have anything Aura could possibly wear during battles. Until she finally spoke up herself. “Actually, Cor gave me this before sending me off.” The blonde ran away to take something, the trio looked at each other with confusion, they weren’t informed of anything by the rest of the crownsguard.

Until they saw what she came back with, especially Gladiolus was impressed with what she was wearing. 

It was an outfit designed specifically for the princess; the skirt had shorts underneath to allow more flexibility. She also had black sneakers instead of heels, it would be easier for her to fight, as the journey would not be a walk in the park. She had also changed into a crop top, with the same reason as the skirt in mind. The royal sigil was imprinted on the varsity jacket she’s wearing, showing the little hint of her being related to the royal family. The wristband that Lunafreya gave her when she was young was still on her arm, in which it seems like she wants to remember Luna’s presence. Her hair was also tied up high, so it wouldn’t get in the way of fights.

“You know, except for the skirt, I’m alright with you fighting in that,” said Gladiolus, pulling her into a friendly chokehold. Ignis nodded in agreement, while Noctis just stood there. Most likely wondering how his darling sister turned into a fierce fighter.

“Thanks, Gladio. But I can handle it, our crown city upbringing really didn’t prepare us for this. But I’ll try my best!” Aura said, turning towards Noctis with a confident smile on her.

The prince was notably proud of his sister, but then he reminded what they were supposed to do right after. “Right… We have to visit the tomb.”

“Then we must leave this instance, who knows what he has in stock for us.” Ignis pointed out, and was the first to walk towards the car. Aura soon followed, leaving Gladio and Noctis behind. The shield seemed to notice the reluctant behaviour that the other had been doing, which consists of him slowly stopping in his steps, then walk again but slower. His hands have been rubbing against each other as well. 

He raised his eyebrow in concern and put one hand on his shoulder before speaking to the raven. “Hear me out, none of us wanted this. We don’t really know what happened, Aura didn’t tell us anything helpful either. She wasn’t there during the signing ceremony for her safety, so all the information we can get is from Cor now.” Gladiolus did a deep sigh before continuing, “Princess’ taking shotgun, we’ll wait for you in the car until you’re ready.”

Staring at the back of his shield, he started to fall into a deep thought. With his father dead, it meant that he was to be king. But was he even ready? All he knew that he was the chosen king, the one that could put an end to the darkness that was eventually going to be brought upon Eos. This all happened too fast for his brain to keep up.

But time doesn’t wait for anyone, not even when you’re the crown prince of Lucis. Noctis knows that.

When he stepped into the car, he was half expecting Ignis to be scolding him about how slow he was, or Aura to tell him what they’d have to do when they get there. But neither happened, instead the two were talking to each other about what might happen when they reached the royal tomb. Gladiolus was instead reading the book that he brought along with him on the road trip. The three noticed his presence and Aura what they were doing.

“Hey Noct, you ready?” Emilia turned back to him, clearly not a very princess thing to do. But honestly the two were known for being “unroyally behaviours”. (Even when Noctis was the top in his class.)

Noctis thought about what was possibly going to happen, and nodded. “Yep, let’s go Iggy.”

And thus, started the road trip for the four Lucians.

-

“Your highness, it’s dangerous for you to stay here.” The soft stomping of boots came along as the owner walked closer to said prince. The blonde stood at the beacon of Fort Garrison, which was also overlooking Leide. His guard looked increasingly worried as she looked around, she was almost sure that they were breaking imperial protocol by being out for this long.

“Hey, what’s out there?”

“Huh?”

“You’ve been out there for much longer than I have, what’s out there?”

The guard kept quiet; she wasn’t sure what to answer the prince. She didn’t want him to be afraid of the outside world, at the same time, she wasn’t sure if she could answer him truthfully. “I’m afraid I have no rights to tell you what’s out there, it’ll be better if we could explore the outside word by ourselves.”

The hot air blew between the two, the red cape engraved with Niflheim emblem waved along. Silence fell along with it, as the taller blonde turned to face her with a smile on him.

“Why don’t we explore it ourselves then?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> twitter ; @prompzie
> 
> -
> 
> thanks for reading! <3


	3. 2. Kings; 皇

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Claiming the old kings power was what Noctis had to do, but the young prince was still feeling unprepared.

Leide was known to be hot, due to it having a desert terrain. It gets even hotter when hot wind blows.

  


It certainly did not help that the car was driving 60mph, and the wind was blowing as well.

  


“Iggy could you PLEASE kindly raise the hood? I’m sweating over here.” A certain crown prince whined as he was hanging almost half of his body out of the car. Gladiolus had to pull him back in the car to ensure his safety. He was almost certain that the reason he became the shield was to protect Noctis from himself.

  


“As much as I hate him, please do raise the hood. So we can enjoy the cold air. Please. Ignis.” The blonde sitting in shotgun said as she pulled out an electric hand-held fan from the armiger. Her brother sitting in the back stared at what happened, and she turned around rolling her eyes. “You forgot I can access to the armiger? You gave me access before you left, saying it was a safety measure.”

  


“Right, I guess that makes sense.”

  


“If you both want me to raise the hood, you best better be sitting properly in your seats. Now.” Ignis warned as he slowed down to find the raise button for the hood. That sure made Noctis and Aura to sit in their seats normally. The advisor sighed in contentment when he felt that the two are starting to behave themselves.

  


.

.

.

“Hey Aura, wanna play chopsticks?”

“STAY IN YOUR SEATS.”

  


-

  


When the four stepped off the car, the nearby hunters seemed to be alerted by their appearance. At first they raised their guns, but when they realized who it was, they dropped them as quick as possible.

  


“P-Prince Noctis! Princess Aura!” Naturally, it was to be expected that their arrival would cause commotion. Gladiolus stepped in front of the two royalties, acting as a shield almost immediately. Ignis had to explain to the surroundings their reason of coming to this area, leaving the two looking for a certain officer.

  


It was not long after, Aura tugged at Noctis’s jacket, waving at a woman. The group approached the woman as she told them the marshal wanted to meet them at the royal tomb. As the princess wanted to lead their way to the tomb, she was dragged by Gladiolus himself.

  


“Huh?”

“Listen, we don’t know what’s going to go on in there. We can’t- “

“Are you saying that I’m a burden?”

  


The sentence that came out of Aura sounded so intense, they were almost sure that came from an army instead of a royalty. Sensing the determination within the princess, Gladiolus grinned and decided to let the girl be.

  


“Come on Aura, time’s waiting for no one,” muttered Noctis as he leaded the way towards the tomb. His sister following closely behind him, with the shield and the advisor closing in up on them. “How did he even get out with so many MTs around?”

  


“He’s the marshal, he survived a number of wars in the past. There’s no wonder why he’s nicknamed Cor the Immortal.” Ignis pointed out, and as they were moving close to the tomb, they’ve noticed a number of imperial armies nearby. Their presence made the shield became aware of their actions, as they might launch an attack on the group.

  


Feeling chills down his spine, the prince felt eyes looking at him from behind. Noctis turned around warily, albeit knowing that he has people who could protect him, he also didn’t want them to get hurt. Blue eyes darted around, searching for the eyes that had made his anxiety spike.

  


There it was.

  


Two silhouettes were at the beacon in the nearby fortress. Though it was used for the old war, he was sure that it should’ve been abandoned. The empire must have taken over the fortress and used it to make their own new base.

  


“Noct, what is it?” Aura’s whisper pulled him back to reality, as the raven shook his head, signalling the rest of the team to move on. The sight of the silhouettes was still at the back of his mind, but he had more important matter on hand right now.

  


-

  


It was dark in the tomb, but it was surprisingly clean inside as well. There was a coffin in the middle of it, protected by some sculptures of the old kings and queens. The coffin had an engraving of a person on it, while also holding a royal arm in their arms.

  


The marshal walked up to the group after he saw the light leaking in from the door. There were several band aids on him, hinting that the fight to get out of the crown city was a tough ride. His eyes widened when he saw the princess with them, wearing the fatigues that the crown had prepared for her. “Your highness, it’s great to see all of you safe and sound.”

  


“Yeah, wanna tell me what I’m here for?”

  


The atmosphere was already tense to begin with, naturally Noctis’s tone would be apprehensive to start off the conversation. Aura stood behind him; hands crossed obviously upset. She almost had forget what happened to the crown city a few days ago, reality hit her like a truck once again.

  


With the two crown royalties looking at him intensely, Cor deep sighed before starting off his sentence. “To claim your forebears’ powers is your birth right, and your duty as king. You’re able to witness such power right in front of you, as the powers of the kings are passed from the old to new through the bonding of souls.”

  


Silence.

  


“My duty? As king?” Raven scoffed, continuing in a tone filled with bitterness. “King of what?”

  


Aura’s eyes visibly twitched. He was right, even though they are royalty, there were no kingdom for them to return to. There were no home to go back to, indeed, the royalties of what? Gladiolus and Ignis both looked at him in dismay, most likely due to the fact that they both sworn to be by the prince’s side. But now he’s doubting his calling.

  


And there it was again.

  


A moment of hesitating, a flash of fear, and a hint of concern rose in Noctis’ eyes. He had never known that this would all come, all he wanted was to marry Lunafreya, and hope that Niflheim signs the damned treaty. All he wanted was for this to end. But he knew about the calling, he knew it wasn’t going to be easy.

  


He had no idea it was going to be this quick.

  


“It’s not the time to question your calling. A king is sworn to protect his people.”

“So you’re telling me, my father had forsaken his whole kingdom just to protect his son? Is that what my father sworn to do?”

  


“How long will you remain the protected?” Cor’s voice echoed in the hollow room, turning everyone’s attention towards him. “Your father had entrusted the role of protector to you.”

  


Noctis visibly scoffed, “Entrusted? Why didn’t he just tell me about it? Why did he stand there, smiling as I left? WHY?” Frustration and exasperation rose within him, as he grabbed the edge of the coffin. Tears started to fall, as he remembered the last moment with his father was spent just a few days ago. “Why… did he lie to me?”

  


Aura turned her back against the group, as she tried her best to not cry in front of them. She wasn’t there when the group left, but when she witnessed her father walking back into the citadel, she saw streaks of tears. Their father, a man who was known to be strong and wise, had started weeping. She didn’t dare to question much, but she knew that the time was coming close.

  


Cor, trying his best to comfort the dejected prince, raised his voice. “That day, he didn’t want you to remember him as the king. In what time you had left…,” he stopped before looking at the group, then back at Noctis, “…he wanted to be your father.”

  


Noctis’s tears slowed down, as he breathed in deeply. That was right, his father did not address him as the prince in the end. He was his son, and will always be. Ignis looked from the side with a worried expression, it was rare to see the prince breaking down especially in front of others. It must be hard on the raven.

  


“He also knew, that when the time comes, you would ascend for the sake of your people.” The marshal continued, staring at the prince with concern. He also knew that it might be too early for the prince to accept his calling.

  


The raven regained his composure as he stood up straight, the rest of the group looking at him, anticipating what he’ll do next. “I guess… He left me no choice.” Muttered Noctis, raising his arm to gain the power of the old king.

  


The weapon that was originally held by the engraving of the statue rose from it, revealing a sword. The blue light radiating softly glowed, as the sword stabbed into Noctis, and circled around him. The trio behind him winced at the sudden bright light, but they all had the same realization. Though weak, it was there. The power of the old king. He grabbed onto his shirt, still feeling unprepared for what’s to anticipate.

  


“If you learnt your history well, you’d know that’s not the only one that’s left for you. There’s another tomb nearby, we should go there next.” Cor said, knocking everyone back into their senses. He then turned towards Gladiolus and Ignis, “You both doing alright?”

  


“Yes marshal, except for the fact that we have to take care of two of these mess.” Gladiolus replied, pulling Aura into a friendly chokehold. The younger had to hit him over and over just to get out of the position and panted. “But it’s nice to see you and Aura alive, was it hard to escape from there?”

  


“You should ask princess; she knows more about the situation than me. Come, this way.” Marshal answered, leading the group to the next tomb. Noctis followed suit, knowing that he’s going on a bigger journey than they’ve anticipated.

  


He wasn’t ready at all.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> twitter ; @prompzie
> 
> -
> 
> thanks for reading! <3


	4. 3. Dreams; 梦

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes, you forget that Noctis is a prince, not a guy on a road trip with his friends and his sister.

Prince Noctis graduated top of his class, that was a fact known to everyone. Naturally, as an advisor, Ignis was proud of how he did in class. Even sometimes, the king would brag it to others. Though it wasn’t surprising, because, well, he’s prince.

But sometimes, he’s not that smart. And he can be stubborn too.

That includes when Ignis and Aura had told him to watch out his warping, due to the next tomb being near to an imperial territory. They know from Noctis’ personality, he’d accidentally warp-strike into an enemy.

They were right.

The group had to fight two MA-Xs, and some imperial armies, which had worn them out. It wasn’t bad, but it also gave them the chance to witnessed how the princess did in battle. Her main choice of weapon was a scythe, with her second being an elemental-fused rod. When one of the other members had too many enemies surrounding them, she would use her scythe to pull some of the enemies away from them and cut them off. It was not surprising for her to be using those two, but the weapon size was way too big for her size.

“Hey, Aura. I know I suggested the scythe as your weapon, but did you really had to make it THAT big?” Gladiolus questioned as he slashed the MTs apart, turning towards the girl. She just stared back with a smirk on her, using her scythe to do an AOE attack. Aura pats her hands together after putting the scythe away in the Armiger, pulling out the rod to counter the next attack from another MT.

“Well, at least it’s useful right?” The blonde replied smugly as she balanced the rod on her shoulder. Noticing another MT dashing towards them, she jumped and kicked it in the head before electrifying it with the lightning-fused rod. “Any complaints now?”

“Less talking, more fighting please, there’s more leftovers.” Ignis noted as he used his lance to perform a link-strike with Noctis. He looked around to scan for another enemy, but there was another one slowly closing up behind him. Quick enough, he moved behind the enemy and slashed his neck before the other could even react.

“Aura I need a little help here!!” Yelled the prince as he warp-striked a base of one of the M-AX robots, as the blonde came running and used a scythe to pull its leg off the base. Then it happened, what Noctis would usually accidentally do in training. Noctis tried to pull out a gun from his armiger, but it accidentally hit Aura in the head, causing her to fall and making her vulnerable.

“Watch out!” Gladiolus said as he pulled out his shield and blocked the attack from an assassin-type MT. Pulling the princess off the ground, he glared at Noctis angrily. “Look where you’re going!”

“My hands slipped.” He apologized as he turned towards the MT, and slashed it apart. His sister looked annoyed as she held his hand, and got pulled up. He clicked his tongue and hit the back of her head playfully, she yelped in pain, which in turn made him got hit by Gladiolus.

“Alright alright, I’m sorry!”

“You best be, come on. We need to hurry back to ask Monica which base we’re infiltrating.”

-

The base was situated near the road to Duscae, which was the next region they had to reach before getting the rest of the royal arms. Which, of course was an active base without question. Noctis and Aura both had to follow Cor through the back of the base to ambush the oblivious enemy. The rest were on diversion mission.

The area was small, and there were only a number of guards nearby. The trio took them out swiftly before regrouping with the others. Aura was looking at Noctis most of the time, worried about her brother. She knew that this could only meant that their adventure was advancing, and he had to fulfil his calling soon. The said prince waved his hand in front of her as she shook back to reality, giving both Cor and Noctis an apologetic look.

“No time to get distracted, princess. Come on.” The marshal replied as he led the duo to the gate that’s slowly opening. Revealing the other two members on the other, the siblings waved, asking of they were alright on their side.

After the small conversation, as if on cue, another spaceship came and came a voice from it. They have noted themselves as Loqi, the brigadier general of Niflheim. A visible sigh came from Noctis, “Guess we have to take him down before we can move on?” The rest of the group nodded in agreement as they all took out their weapons from the armiger, preparing for the fight.

-

“Are those Lucians?” A soft-spoken voice questioned; thudding sound of boots followed suit soon after. They leaned against the pilot-seat, which was currently occupied by someone else.

The person in the pilot seat had their legs crossed, as they overlooked the current battle that’s going on. Their eyes looked unamused, while their vision was focused on the raven that kept on warp-striking the manual-operated MA-X. “Yeah. That’s the prince over there.” Even their voice sounded bored as they watched the battle goes on.

“Should we go down and say hi? He might be thrilled to meet us.”  
  


“You’re joking. He’d be thrilled to gut us alive.”

The other voice went silent and joined in watching the fight. It ended with the MA-X blowing up, and the Lucians cheering in joy as they have grouped up to hug each other. The pilot’s eyes squinted as they saw the princess within them. Her blonde hair was slightly dirty from all the fighting they did, her jacket was a bit torn as well, but she didn’t mind. They clicked their tongue, drawing attention from the other.

“What’s wrong?”  
  


“It’s nothing. We should go before Iedolas kills me for trafficking you away.”  
  


“Don’t speak of my dad like that!”  
  


“Heh, as if you like him anyways.”

The other laughed, as the pilot flew the assault ship away. They seemed to have realized something before they went far from where the Lucians were.

“Did you… know? That Loqi would fail his mission in defending the base?”

There was no response from the other.

-

Duscae was way greener than Leide, naturally it was also much cooler as well. The hood of the Regalia was off, but the two siblings weren’t complaining much. There were a lot more clouds in the sky as well, which Gladiolus was worried if it would rain a lot more, interrupting their camps. Noctis groaned at the mention of camp, Aura would too, if she wasn’t asleep from all the fighting.

“Right, Noct. I have something to tell you.” Ignis said, eyes looking from the rear-view mirror. With his attention drawn, the named-prince sat up and leaned against the backside of the driver’s seat. “Just now during the battle, I seemed to see the assault ship used to drop Loqi’s magitek armor staying nearby.“

“Huh?”  
  
“I‘m afraid someone might be stalking our actions.”

The atmosphere around the group grew tense, the only audible sound that can be heard is Aura’s soft snore. Noctis’s eyes glanced towards Ignis’s in the rear-view mirror, then turned towards Gladio who’s sitting next to him. The latter nodded in agreement, and pointed out the whirring noise that he heard while they were fighting against Loqi.

“I’ve also noticed a huge patch of shadow hovering above the battlegrounds, but I thought it was just a really huge patch of raincloud.”

“Thanks for, alarming us Ignis. Guess we have more people to watch out for except for the Niffs.” Noctis replied as he laid back, looking out of his seat. The warm wind blew against his hair as he slowly dozed off once again.

-

Noctis was standing in the middle of nowhere, confused and helpless, he walked straight into the oblivion. A small light shone from within, and he was pulled towards it. He saw two silhouettes, though faint, they were there. As he stepped closer, he heard an unfamiliar voice.

“Do you miss, home?”

The voice resonated through his mind; he was sure that it was talking to him telepathically as he wasn’t able to hear anything through his ears. His eyes wandered to the silhouettes in front of him, as he answered the voice.

“Of course, I miss it there. Why wouldn’t I?”

“What if there’s someone around you, who’s from home, but was never from home?"

The cryptic question made him confused; as he was about to answer it, the light shone brighter until it hurt his eyes. Until it burned. Until he felt someone shaking him awake.

Until he opened his eyes again, and saw his sister sighing in relief. “Man, you were like shouting in your sleep. What’s going on?” Aura asked concernly as she opened the car door, “Plus, we reached a gas station. Get off.”

“And here I was, thinking that you’ve turned a new leaf. Thought you were going to be nice to me finally.” The older replied as he got off the car promptly, patting his jacket then looking at his sister. Her blue eyes blinked as she stared at him with curiosity and a tinge bit of concern, her face was still slightly dusty from the battle against Loqi a while ago. He grinned and wiped the dust off her face.

“Hey, what’s that for?”

“Nothing, something on your face.” He said, then squeezed her cheeks together, teasing her as she swatted his hand, trying to get it off her face. After a short argument, he received a call in which he just answered it without a thought.

“Hello?”

“Noct? Is that you? Thank goodness you’re alive!”

Noctis’s eyes widened as he recognized the sound of his friend. “Iris? Is that you?” He questioned as if he didn’t know the answer already, his retainer and his sister turned towards him in surprise after hearing the name coming out of him.

Iris Amicita, sister of Gladiolus Amicita, was on the other side of the phone. Most importantly she was safe and sound, Aura had an excited look on her face, knowing that her friend is safe and sound was important enough for her.

“Thank god you’re safe. The news was saying you died and everything! I knew I shouldn’t trust it until I’ve heard your voice.” Iris replied, and continued to question Noctis. “Is Aura there with you as well? She left as soon as my father told her to, I never got to say goodbye to her…”

Noctis glanced at his sister, who looked really eager to talk to Iris before answering the girl. “Yeah she’s here, and is very excited to talk to you right now…”

“IRIS!!! THANK GOD YOU’RE SAFE!!!”

“Aura, keep it down.” Ignis pushed his glasses, but a faint smile was visible on him. He was also relieved to know that Iris was safe and sound. “We mustn’t give away our tracks to possible enemies around us, remember?”

“Alright…” The blonde replied with a pout, then she leaned closer to the phone Noctis was holding and whispered, “We’ll talk more when we reach Lestallum alright?”

A chuckle was heard before Iris agreed to talk to them in Lestallum, and when Noctis was about to hang up Iris called out to him once more. “There’s actually been a strange whirring noise nearby when we reached Lestallum, it sounded like the dropships the empire’s been using all this time. Sometimes we can hear it from where we’re staying right now.”

Noctis furrowed his eyebrows as he heard the strange occurrence, immediately linking it to the stalker that Ignis had mentioned a while ago. “Thanks for bringing it up, I’ll look into it,” replied the prince as he hung up on Iris. Turning towards the trio, he sighed and conveyed the message Iris has told him.

“We have to beware of our backs from now on, we should go to Lestallum as quick as possible as well.” Ignis pointed out, and the group nodded. But it’s not long before Aura ran up to Noctis and hugged him, which caused the latter to sigh and shook his head.

“Aura, whatever you want me to do, we can’t do it now. There’s more important things on the hand.”

“But there’s supposed to be chocobos here!! Can’t we go and get a look at them first, pleaaaaaase?”

“No.”

“I still wonder why Luna likes you…”

Ignis and Gladio had to butt in the two siblings’ argument to pull them apart before Noctis could pull off a part of Aura’s hair and vice versa.

-

“Do you really think this is the right thing to do? To just, run out of there?”

A male voice, filled with worry, asked the person next to him. They tied up a part of their hair, and sighed while they turned towards him.

“Your ear, bring it to me.”

The male blinked before the shorter pulled his ear towards them, and he seemingly was afraid of what the other was about to do. He did feel something painful, but it only lasted a second before it stopped hurting. “What did you d-“

“Stop moving, let me just…” They replied him before he could finish his sentence, and slowly patched the scar up with the first aid box that was beside them. “There, now we don’t have to worry about the Empire.” They said proudly and put the first aid box back to where they took it from.

Sapphire eyes stared at the short person before they opened the door and stepped out of it. His eyes widened, and immediately knew what they were trying to do. Of course, he was more excited than everyone in the entirety of Eos.

“Didn’t you said you wanted to explore? Come on, Lestallum has a lot of friendly people, you’d fit right in here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> twitter ; @prompzie
> 
> -
> 
> thanks for reading! <3


	5. 4. Rest; 休

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Come on, Iris! We know you beat my ass in training many times before, you're not as cute and formal as someone treats you to b-"
> 
> "Aura, one more word and tomorrow morning we're gonna go jog around town five times."

Ignis has been driving for quite sometime now, and the blonde next to him was tapping on the Regalia's screen.

"We're almost there, finally somewhere nice to stay...!" She cheered, with Gladio peeking out from behind his book soon afterwards.

"How do you know we'd have a place to stay?"

"Duh, it's Lestallum. There should be a hotel there! Plus we've been camping for a while now, we should stay somewhere with soft beds!!"

Ignis nodded, agreeing with the princess while lifting his glasses. "Plus, we could wait until we met Iris and the others to investigate about the weird whirring sound near Lestallum."

"Right, that too." Aura sighed as she closed out of the navigation app and looked out of her seat. She noticed a tunnel in front of them and gasped. "This feels like we're warping to another dimension...!!"

Ignis laughed as he drove onwards.

-

"Noct, wake up. We've arrived." The prince groaned as he knocked his advisor's hand away. Gladio sighed and patted on Ignis's shoulder, hinting him that he'll do the job for him.

Oh sure he did.

Noctis soon was yelling as Gladio pulled on his ears to wake him up, causing the people from around them to stare at them weirdly. Aura quickly apologized before scolding the two if they didn't want to attract attention from the others, they'd better start moving.

The raven stretched as he stepped out of the car, and he felt the sweltering hotness surrounding him. He looked around, and saw that they were at an amazingly beautiful area, not as modern as Insomnia, but definitely a place where people could call home. He slowly walked towards the outlook, and saw the meteor disk that was although far, but big enough to be seen even from where they were.

Lestallum was a bustling town filled with life and laughters, Gladio and Aura were soon talking with the townspeople. Ignis was quite surprised at how they didn't manage to notice the princess, but was happy enough that she was finally interacting with people except for the trio. Noctis was pulled to try out the skewers for free, which he praised it a lot for Ignis to try it out as well. Unfortunately, the advisor mentioned that he wouldn't have been able to recreate the goodness of the skewers.

As Aura and Noctis was walking through the streets of Lestallum, the younger accidentally bumped into someone, causing them to fall. "Oh- Are you alright? I'm so sorry!!" She apologized as quick as she could, looking at the person on the ground.

Her eyes widened as she noticed that she had bumped into quite an attractive girl. Her long raven hair was tied up in a half ponytail, and she was staring back at Aura with a crimson colored eyes. She was wearing a half-opaque white button up with a black tube inside, and it was messily tucked into her black high waisted shorts. She also noticed that she’s wearing black fingerless gloves, and a black stocking to go with it as well. The combat boots were extremely fitting for her entire style as well.

"... Miss?" Aura got knocked back into reality as she heard a voice coming from the ravenette. "I said... I'm fine. Are you alright...?" She slowly stood up, dusting her shorts while asking the blonde. Her voice was soft, yet somehow commanding enough for Aura to quickly reply that she feels alright. "That's... Good. I have to go now." The girl said as she quickly ran away from Aura.

"Wow, who's that cutie you met?" The prince jumped out behind Aura, making her jump and kicked his knees in revenge. "Hey!! I was just asking a simple question..."

"I don't know her but..." A thought floats up in her mind, she wonders if she could meet the cute girl again in the streets of Lestallum. She could invite her on a date and possibly buy her anything she wants at the roadside stands; or even better, if she likes video games, Aura could bring her back to their room and play games with Noctis. 

If he doesn't have any idea on wanting to get her as his girlfriend. (He does have Lunafreya already, in which she was quite safe to continue to pursue this nameless beauty.)

"But?" Noctis asked, making then princess shaking her head. He sighed as he patted her head. "It's alright Aura, this is probably just a coincidence that you met a girl that you had your eyes on."

"Who said I'm into girls? I'm not!" Blood flushed through her cheeks as she pushed him away, causing the other to laugh and shake his head. Noctis had an idea that his sister was into girls, but she was never out of the closet. Not wanting to cause any trouble, he dragged her back to where Ignis told them to meet up.

"I hope you guys had fun, Iris told us to meet up at the Leville." Ignis turned to the two with a smile on him, then Gladio was soon running ahead of them. The interactions between Noctis and Aura must've made him miss Iris more than he thought. The three looked at each other and shrugged, chasing after Gladio.

-

The Leville wasn't as luxurious as Galdin Quay, but it was considered at least a 3 star or 4 star hotel around this area. As the quartet chatted along with each other, the ground started to shake, it wasn't a huge shake so the group immediately assumed it was just a tremor.

It was different for Noctis though, his head hurt excruciatingly all of a sudden, images flashed in front of his eyes. The eye of titan, the meteor, some rocks, and it kept flashing over and over again.

"Noct, you alright?" Gladio questioned as Aura went and held onto Noctis, making sure he wasn't falling anytime soon. The concerned looks in his friends and sister's eyes made him slightly uncomfortable, what if he wasn't good enough to be king? Yes, he's the true king but he always had his friends around him...

What would he do without them?

"I'm alright, Iris's waiting inside." He replied cooly and walked in the Leville. Gladio shrugged, and followed him, whilst the two blondes (one is a dirty blonde, but that kinda adds up) looked at each other with worried look in their eyes.

Both for different reasons.

-

The meeting with Iris, Jared and Talcott was eventful. Jared came in with his grandson, and the little boy started to say that he's going to protect Iris. His little comment made the group laugh and Aura said that Iris would be the one doing the protecting instead of Jared, which made Iris almost threw Aura out of the window.

"Come on, Iris! We know you beat my ass in training many times before, you're not as cute and formal as someone treats you to b-"

"Aura, one more word and tomorrow morning we're gonna go jog around town five times." 

The blonde shut up immediately. Iris laughed and patted her back, defending her by saying she didn’t mean it. Aura hugged her, then did a little handshake that the two established since young.

“Right, before we forget, Iris what’s with this weird whirring noises you’ve mentioned on the phone?” The advisor brought up the question, making everyone turn to said girl. She stopped messing around with Aura and sat down, a little fidgety. Her friend frowned, knowing how much the attack on Insomnia must’ve scarred the girl.

“I haven’t been here for long, but sometimes at night, I would hear some whirring noises near the edge of the town. It sounded like… The dropships they use to transport the MTs…” Iris said, and started to curl up. The quartet notice the rise of anxiety within the girl; Gladio, worried about his sister, sat next to her and patted her head, giving her a hug just in case she needed it.

“Guess we need to figure that out as soon as possible.” Noctis stretched, and laid down on the bed. “Kinda tired after roaming around Lestallum, I’m going to sleep.”

“But Noct, your sh-“

Before Ignis could reprimand Noctis about him not bathing before sleeping, he already fell asleep. Aura laughed and told them that she’d be sleeping in the next room with Iris. She held the girl up carefully, waving at the trio before leaving the room.

  
“So, what are we going to do with him?” Gladio asked the advisor after seeing Aura and his sister leaving the room, just to hear the other sigh.

“We’ll have to wake him up in the morning to bath, he’s had a long day, with all these informations as well. “

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> twitter ; [@prompzie](https://twitter.com/prompzie)
> 
> -
> 
> thanks for reading!


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